With Benefits
by Dispatchvampire
Summary: Xochitl Tecuani is a good soldier, a good Avenger, and hopelessly lusting after her team leader. Her crush on Cap is unfortunate at best and surely unrequited, or is it?
1. Chapter 1

First and foremost, this was not her fault. Their intel hadn't been quite as solid as was billed and thus what should have been a cakewalk at a rest home devolved into the next to last boss fight in DOOM. There had been way more HYDRA goons than anticipated, so when the initial mission went sideways, Xo opted to protect the team instead of hitting the intended target in what had rapidly become a suicide mission.

She'd caught Clint after one of his ridiculous second story falls without a net and between the two of them, they cleared a path of egress for the rest of the team. Xo chose to ride back to the compound in the back of the Quinjet, segregated from everyone else because she was covered in blood and gore from head to toe and didn't want to stain anything else. Cleaning the skin and gunk out from under her fingernails was going to be quite the pain in the ass when they got back, and she pondered the merits of just setting her uniform on fire and having Tony make her another one.

To describe Cap as displeased was to gloss over the magnesium based white-hot glare he'd leveled at her when she'd finally made it aboard the jet to bug out. He'd watched her evade one goon and eviscerate another with her bare hands, and yet somehow _he_ had cornered the market on pissed off. He started yelling the moment they hit the conference room for the debrief.

"The mission was a shitshow from start to finish. What the fuck were you thinking, Tecuani?" he railed, getting right up in Xo's face as she stood off to the side of the room. She would have sat but alas, debrief before shower apparently.

"I was thinking about not letting my teammates die because my team leader can't manage to get us quality fucking intel," she snarled back at him. She hadn't been on the team very long, but Captain America's brand of hotheadedness got right under her skin. He may have been sinfully sexy in that goddamn stealth suit, but that didn't give him the right to demean her.

"The fuck did you just say?"

Chest to chest, chin up, she wasn't afraid of his wrath. She was related to bigger, meaner predators, he was but a kit in comparison. "I said," she rolled her head around on her shoulders working out a kink in her neck and enjoying the accompanying pops, "whoever does your intelligence gathering needs a guide dog because that sure as hell was _not _a 'mostly abandoned HYDRA facility'."

"You still should have been able to complete the assignment," he sniffed disdainfully.

Xo ran a thumbnail over an itch on her cheek, feeling the flakes of dried blood fall from the furrow she created. "I caught him," she gestured to Clint, annoyed at the flakes of blood that fell from her fingers, "after he fell thirty feet, and damn near landed on some protruding rebar. He and I managed to cut a path through the chaos to ensure everyone else had a way out. I don't think a little gratitude would be out of line."

"Gratitude? For a failure? You couldn't even be assed to complete the damn mission and you want _gratitude_?" He was close enough for her to see the green flecks in his otherwise flawless blue eyes. Close enough to bite his lip, and damn if she wasn't tempted.

"At this point, we don't even know if the actual research was ever there. Your shoddy-ass intel—" she cut herself off on a sharp sigh and a distinct click of her teeth. He wasn't going to admit he was wrong and he was never going to see she was right, so there was no need to keep arguing. Peaceful now, she disengaged, turning her back to him to head out of the conference room. "I'mma go hit the showers."

"We're not finished," he ground out as she opened the door, the scent of rage and potential violence rolling off of him in molten waves.

"You misunderstood me, then." She flashed him a show of teeth that could have been mistaken for a grin over her shoulder, keeping her tone deceptively light. "I wasn't asking permission. I disemboweled a guy today with my bare hands. I smell like a goddamn abattoir and, at the very least, I'm a biohazard. I'm not going to keep standing here so you have to send a team in to clean up the trail of heme that follows me." Without even waiting for a response, she carried on down the hall to the showers, heedless of the muffled yelling behind her.

* * *

Three times Xo had to wash her damn hair. Instead of the shower relaxing her, all it did was piss her off further. Her unruly black locks now in a wrist-thick braid to her waist, she left her uniform in a biohazard bag and changed into her cleanest gym clothes she'd left in her locker before heading out to spend some time on the heavy bag. There was no point in going to her room if all she planned to do was punch holes in the walls.

The gym itself was unoccupied, a small favor really, and the lights came up the moment she stepped in the door. Wrapping her hands, she made her way over to the heavy bag hanging from the reinforced hooks that were designed with Cap in mind.

"Captain goddamn America," she muttered balefully as she stretched her neck and flexed her fingers before taking her first swings. Just thinking about Steve Rogers had her seeing red and beating up the sand-filled canvas bag like it had disrespected her homeland and her momma.

He was a decent leader, tactical genius, but the margin for error with him was always razor-thin, and gods help you if fell on the wrong side of that margin. Having him yell at her was tough, because in her experience, that kind of thing always preceded a violent shift and an even more brutal fight. Walking away had been the best thing for all involved in order to prevent further bloodshed.

Xo was so lost in her swirling haze of rage-filled thoughts she missed hearing or scenting anyone entering the room. Thankfully Clint's reflexes were good because she swung the moment he touched her shoulder to get her attention. "The fuck, dude! I coulda killed you!"

Clint rolled to his feet with an easy grin. "Nah, you saved my life tonight. I don't think you'd mess that up by doing it yourself." Her best friend was dressed in some distressed black basketball shorts and a faded purple tank top like he planned to work out too, though he wasn't normally given to sweating that late in the day unless they were on a mission.

"Not on purpose, no." She shook out her arms trying to rid the shimmery electric tendrils of adrenaline winding through her. Fear and the associated hormones made her dangerous to people around her, and it wasn't a discriminating response.

"So you're still pissed at Cap, huh?" His playful tone had her on guard, and the way he moved suggested a predator stalking prey, so she found herself shifting her feet and keeping him in sight.

"What gave you that impression?" she asked warily.

"Well…" he gazed intently, innocently at the ceiling before rushing over with an aggressive shoulder check that almost knocked her off her feet. "I don't speak Nahuatl, but the Spanish words I recognize. I can tell swearing when I hear it."

"Some swearing," she granted with a nod, "some speculations about his parentage, but yeah, that's fair." Xo snorted in amusement, deftly avoiding his next attempted shove. "What are you doing?"

"I want you to fight me." He says it like he's asking what she wants on her pizza, wrapping his hands in tape like hers, his grin pure mischief.

She blinked at her blond friend, who had a blooming bruise on his bicep from where she'd grabbed him during the mission and a couple butterfly bandages over an eyebrow, unsure if this was an act of stupidity or head trauma. He was one of three people who knew exactly what she was, and the damage she could do if pushed. Today alone she'd managed to tear a swath through HYDRA's forces without even changing form other than her hands. Bringing a werejaguar to a sparring match was a 100% terrible idea. "I'm not going to fight you."

He beamed as he wrapped his hands like hers. "Sure you are. It'll help you."

"Help me how exactly?"

Moving over to the mats, he leaned down in a deep stretch. "You're here because you can't sleep, right? We go a few rounds and you're too tired not to sleep. Plus you can't keep fighting with Cap."

The growl that rumbled in her chest was entirely involuntary. "The hell I can't. I'm not going to stand there and let him talk to me however he feels like, especially if he's patently wrong."

Clint snorted as he rotated his shoulders. "You and he have that in common."

Xo kicked off her shoes and stomped over to the mats, teeth bared and voice losing octaves rapidly. She didn't need a mirror to know her dark eyes had shifted, color perception and sharpness adjusting for their new configuration.

"Have what in common?" She finally shoved him back, her irritation coming fully to the fore. If the archer wanted to play, she was suddenly in the mood.

"There you are, Goldeneye," he murmured softly, his grin slipping from playful to feral with barely a blink. He beckoned her closer with one hand while keeping his other up to guard.

"I hate that nickname," she muttered, dropping into her stance and circling him slowly. Stark gave her that nickname when she shifted in front of him and Cap, showing off her other form. Almost seven feet of sleek muscles, fur, spots, and a tail, her golden eyes were as distinctive as her massive, lethal paws, it was sexy as it was dangerous. Of course Tony had to make a joke about it, and like most of the nicknames he conjurned, it stuck. Much to her chagrin.

Her blond bestie licked his lips and winked. "Then fight me for it." That was all the warning she got before he lunged at her like a deranged spider monkey.

Barton was fast and strong, pulling no punches as he tumbled and kicked, grappling and swinging at her with practiced ease. A fight between them was fairly well matched so long as she didn't engage her full strength. He was one of the few that made it tempting, though.

Clint leapt onto her back, his arm around her neck, his legs wrapped around her waist as he drove her to the cushioned ground. But she wasn't going down without a fight. With her strong legs, she crouched and pushed to her feet before purposefully dropping to her back, crushing him under her full weight and moving in with an elbow strike to the ribs. His arm loosened, just enough for her to slip out and flip on him, bringing to bear her own spider monkey skills, finally coming to rest by sitting on his chest, her knees on either side of his head, her hand braced on his stomach as she wiped the sweat from her face with the other.

Xo threw back her head and laughed finishing with a roar that echoed through the room. "Fuck yes!"

Barton's cheeky grin between her thighs was comical. "I told you you'd like it."

Between heaving breaths, she asked, "You never did tell me, what do Cap and I have in common?"

He laughed breathlessly. "You're both stubborn as hell and stand up for what you think is right."

She growled and tightened the grip of her thighs. "Shut the hell up, dude."

He tapped on the outsides of her thighs and the mat frantically. "Or what, you'll smother me with your puss? You're most of the way there now! And what a way to go."

"God, you're a pain in my ass." The rest of her witty retort was stifled by a subtle cough coming from the doorway of the gym. Head lolling in that direction, she was met by the fiery sapphire gaze of one Captain Steve Rogers. In his tight white t-shirt and fists wrapped for brawling, he leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, watching her and Barton tussle. If she didn't know better, he almost appeared to be smiling.

She wondered what he saw, her and Barton in such an intimate position, how long he'd been watching. His scent drifted over to her then, clean, citrusy, _curious_. Fuck that. Shifting her stance, she rolled smoothly to her feet and pulled Clint up as well.

"I'm out." She stopped over by the bag to grab her belongings before heading in the direction of the women's locker room on the opposite side of the room from the man in question.

"Sleep well, Xo," her bestie called over her shoulder. She heard Clint snicker behind her as he, too, headed for the showers. "Cap."

"Barton."

Even his voice was sexy irritating. _Bastard_.


	2. Chapter 2

The next week was quiet, thankfully quiet. Xo spent the time training and doing her damnedest to avoid running into Cap, keeping vampire hours just because she could. Jaguars were nocturnal by nature, and she only kept daylight hours to be polite.

Honestly, it was a matter of not picking a fight. Cap was a good man and a solid leader, even if they didn't always agree on how things got done. But his leadership role did not give him permission to berate her, and honestly, she wasn't in the mood to fight with the man. She was proud of being an Avenger, and not going to let her mouth get her drummed out of the team.

And maybe, somewhat, kinda sorta, she was working on reconciling her crush on the man. Steve Rogers was larger than life. Good-looking to the point of active distraction with his bright blue eyes and impressively muscled frame, kind in his own way, he took the responsibility of looking after his teammates seriously, regardless of how they'd argued previously.

The real problem of the situation was she was too damn old to be carrying around a crush for a superior officer, especially one who didn't value the work she did for the team. That was not how she was trained as a _cuāuhocēlōtl_. Her status as a Jaguar Warrior was an honor she had worked damn hard for, and it was not something that could just be discarded because Cap was being a jackass.

It was the same irritating circle Xo managed to think herself around to every night, and it sucked. She missed seeing his stupidly pretty face and talking to him, and how annoying was that?

Clint had brought up that Cap wished to speak to her, but she hadn't done anything with the information yet. Unless he was coming with an apology, she had nothing to say to Steve Rogers, and the way her heart lit up when her bestie had relayed the news only served to aggravate her more.

The thoughts in her head twisted around themselves becoming a hot tangle of annoyance and irritation that she channeled into her fists as she pummeled the devil out of the heavy bag. It was her second bag in as many days, the level of her exasperation increasing her level of property destruction.

Xo nailed a hit dead center of the bag as hard as she could, buckling the bag in two as it flung around sand in its impressive arc to the other side of the room. Shoulders heaving as she breathed, watching the bag come to rest on the other side of the gym, she dropped her head back and let loose a string of Spanish profanities at the top of her lungs that would have earned her the Chancla of Doom™ from her Abuela Nochtli before settling down and going to retrieve the bag to dispose of it and grabbing a broom to clean up the mess. As pissed as she was, she was still a responsible, grown-ass woman.

She should have known something was amiss when the broom wasn't in its designated spot when she came back from dumping the bag. When she rounded the corner, she found the one person she hadn't wanted to see hanging a new bag, with all her mess already swept up and neatly handled.

It was hard not to admire the play of muscles along his back and arms as he hoisted the bag in place. Cap was in his usual workout gear of a white t-shirt so tight she wondered how he managed to both breathe and not shred it every time he moved and basketball shorts that barely hung to his knees. He really was that tall. And his ass was perfect. It was so unfair how pretty he was.

Feet rooted to the floor, it was tempting as all hell to just turn around and leave the way she came. At least it was until she heard his voice uncharacteristically softly say, "Clint told me where to find you."

She figured as much. The archer had been on her to talk to the Captain for a couple days now. Thumbnail worrying the edge of her taped knuckles, she approached Cap cautiously. "Why are you looking for me? Ain't it past your bedtime?"

He straightened up and looked her over, making her suddenly feel each and every unruly curl that had escaped her braid and every bead of sweat on her person. A small part of her wanted to flinch under the intense inspection, but she stood proud and tall, channeling the energy of her warrior ancestors.

Steve's height was always the first thing that startled her, he always seemed so much bigger than she remembered, and truth be told, she thought of him as a giant. Probably had something to do with the fact that she didn't make it up to his chin in human form, but whatever.

More than that, Steve was _built._ His broad shoulders and thick arms had featured in more than one of her double 'A' battery-driven fantasies. Every single muscle was there for her to peruse unabated and she pursed her lips and looked away the moment she realized she was openly ogling. _How rude. _

"I…" he cleared his throat softly and licked his lips before continuing, "wanted to apologize. For—"

"Save it," she snapped, one look at his downcast eyes and slightly flushed cheeks only served to rile her up. Taking up her stance beside the bag, she let loose with a couple more-than-half-assed jabs. He made her antsy and it was hit the bag or leap on him, so she went with the more location-appropriate option.

"We really need to clear the air between us." He grabbed the bag and held it still for her to whale on, watching her face intently. "Before the next mission," he tacked on as a clear afterthought.

"Uh huh." Now Xo was swinging in earnest. With him holding the bag, there was no reason for her to hold back or worry about sending another one flying. He held up admirably, probably the only one who could besides Thor or even Tony in the suit.

The burn she felt in her arms and shoulders was nothing compared to the flash burn she felt in her cheeks from his scrutiny. It would be so much easier if she could actually rub two braincells together and form a cogent thought that wasn't about what she could rub on him.

"Why won't you let me apologize?"

The puppydog eyes were lethal, and Xo suspected he was well aware. She dropped her hands and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the inside of her wrist as she fixed him with a mild glare. "Do you know what you're apologizing for?"

"I was informed that—"

She held up a hand, cutting off his explanation. "Let's not." Stalking over to the far wall, she grabbed her squeeze bottle of water and towel, cleaning the sweat out of her eyes and also putting some space between her and the _pendejo capitán. _"That right there," she indicated to the space in front of him as he left the bag to approach her cautiously. "That right there is why you don't get to apologize. If you can't articulate the offense, you don't get to apologize for it."

Throwing her towel over her shoulder, she grabbed her bag and took a step toward the locker room. "I'm out."

"Were you done for the night?" Again with the soft voice, this time with an expression that was equally tentative and uncertain.

"I am if you're here," she answered honestly. Watching him flinch at her words was physically painful for her.

He let her get a few more steps before asking, "What can I do to make this right between us?"

Xo stopped walking but didn't turn around to face him. "I don't know." His answering sigh told her he had nothing else to say, so she continued across the floor to the showers.

"Fight me," he called after her, bringing her to another halt just outside the locker room doors.

_Is he serious? _"Are you serious?" Xo demanded as she whipped around to face him. Granted, she wouldn't have to be as careful with him as she would with the others, but still, she could injure him grievously without much effort, and that was not what she wanted.

"Yeah," he replied as he approached her gingerly, looking hopeful. "I hurt you, so I'm giving you the opportunity to even the score."

_Nope. Nosiree. Negative. "_Okay, first of all, you hurt my feelings, and that is in no way the same thing as giving me permission to rip off your face." She nodded at her sound logic, because she was not at all entertaining this foolishness. After thinking on it a moment, she added, "Besides, I'm pretty sure that's considered defacing a national treasure."

The pun of admiration made his lips twitch but he didn't acknowledge it otherwise. "You think you'll get the chance to?"

"I've seen you fight, old man. I'd feel bad for you breaking a hip or something." Her look of practiced indifference was undone by the dimples in her cheeks that kept trying to make an appearance.

"Old man?" Her light trash-talking made him smile and made his blue eyes glitter as the challenge unfolded in front of him. _Okay, yeah, so she _was _thinking about taking him up on the offer to fight._

"Yeah," she affirmed as she adjusted her gym bag on her shoulder. "See, here's the problem. If I beat your ass, I'm the chick who beat up an old man. If you beat my ass, I got my ass beat by an old man. It's a conundrum."

"Captain America," he informed her, squaring his shoulders, cocky as hell and looking every bit the American icon they all knew him to be.

"Hmm?"

"You got your ass beat by _Captain America_."

Xo snorted and headed over to the mats, tossing her bag against a wall and boldly striding into the ring. "He _wishes_."

They worked out a few ground rules, designed both to keep them safe-ish, and also accommodate their status as enhanced humans. Full speed, full contact, no weapons, no shifting or the associated claws and fangs, and hopefully no permanent damage. First one to hold the other to the mat for a count of five wins, best two out of three. He had her at a distinct size disadvantage, but she was pretty sure she could overcome that with sheer meanness and determination. Xo shook Steve's hand, tied up her hair, and slapped in her mouth guard, ready to rumble.

The first thing they found was how complementary their styles were. She could take a hit from him and shake it off, no problem, and he was fast enough to keep up with her. It was two rounds of punching, kicking, grappling, and Cirque du Soleil-level acrobatics before they're both breathing hard and bleeding, him from his nose where it caught a stray elbow, and her from the corner of her mouth where he'd managed an open-handed strike that whipped her head to the side. He had impressively large hands.

'Ground and pound' was a philosophy they both ascribed to, and it served them well, giving a round to each of them.

Round three was when they both got serious. Xo was super-competitive on a normal day, and this was nowhere close to a normal day, and from the way Steve kept coming even after she pounced on him and drove him to his knees under her full weight told her he likely was as well.

He smelled like summer, limes and heat, his skin warm under her hands as she vaulted over his shoulder to swing around and clinch her arms and legs around his torso like a vise. It was a move that would have worked on someone normal sized, and her legs were locked around his narrow waist but his shoulders were too damn wide.

When he fell backwards, trapping her under his massive weight, one of her arms came loose of its hold on him and he wasted no time pressing his advantage. For a big guy whose major weapon was a shield he was a damn good close quarters fighter. In no time at all, Xo found herself pinned underneath Steve. Wearing a mischievous grin and face flushed red from exertion, he secured her wrists above her head in one hand as he slotted his thick legs between hers.

It was hell when her mind wanted nothing more than to supply other more enjoyable scenarios for this position. Especially when she could feel his hot breath on her neck, feel the press of all those luscious muscles against her, and see the way his eyes were darkening as he looked her over. The temptation to bite his plush bottom lip had never been stronger.

Steve licked his lips as he regarded her. "Yield?" he offered, his voice barely above a panty-melting growl. Damn, but he made it so hard to be well-behaved.

"No, thank you." And she headbutted him straight in the nose. She was able to brace her legs and get mostly free, though he held her arm in an unsurprisingly effective arm bar. He managed to hold her, but she still didn't yield, not even when he brought more pressure to bear, threatening to do real damage her shoulder. He probably heard her warning growl, though, because all at once, he turned her loose and stepped away.

Both Xo and Steve collapsed on the spectator bench against the far wall, working to regain both their strength and appropriate levels of oxygenation.

He disappeared to the men's locker room for a moment before returning with a fresh bottle of cold water for her and one for himself.

"We good?" he asked breathlessly as he cracked his drink and promptly inhaled half of it. He was a bit sweaty, winded, and his bloody nose was dripping onto his shirt, but even with all that, he was smiling like he'd had the best time. There was a certain satisfaction in knowing she'd made him work hard for his semi-victory, such as it was.

His gaze as he straddled the bench and faced her was almost a tactile sensation. Or maybe she'd taken enough knocks to the head to jar loose the filter she kept in place to restrain such thoughts. She nodded at his question, opting to drink quite a bit before answering with words. "Yeah, we're good, Cap."

He clinked his plastic bottle with hers. "Outstanding."

Together in silence, they watched as the inky blackness of night gave way to the rose and lavender fingers of daybreak in the floor to ceiling windows directly across from them.

"You wanna go for a run?"

Xo chuckled softly, dropping her head back against the wall as her braid unwound from its stays and unfurled to almost her thigh. It hadn't occurred to her that this encounter would run into Cap's normal schedule. "After that?" she gestured listlessly to the ring where they had yet to clean up their sweat and blood. "Yeah, not so much." She stood and stretched a little, noticing right away that her shoulder was very unhappy with her. "I'm gonna hit the shower and fall over for a few hours."

Cap returned her tired smile and pushed to his feet, yanking off his shirt to use on his nose. "No worries. I'll clean up in here and then go grab a shower myself. I think I can safely forego the run today."

"Good talk, Cap." She huffed a laugh as she headed in to clean up from the workout. It was that or fall on her knees and beg to get her hands all over those perfect pecs and her tongue all over his abs, and really? She was too sweaty and gross to enjoy it. Pity.

Everything hurt and there was no part of her body that wasn't a bit out of sorts, though her shoulder only ramped up its complaints as she stepped under the hot water. Washing her hair quickly became a one-handed affair as her left shoulder refused to lift her arm. Every movement after that was accompanied by a pained groan she had to work to stifle.

"Shit," she muttered as she rinsed and made her way to the bench just outside the shower to collapse. Her shoulder was out, fully out, and now she had to figure out how she was going to get dry and dressed and back to her room. Not to mention reset the joint.

Of course, there _was_ one way to make this work, at least for the moment. Reducing her shoulder by herself was a violent, excruciating process involving slamming her arm into a wall and hoping the joint responded favorably. "Fuck," she breathed, the cool air prickling over her skin.

"Xochitl?"

She pursed her lips at the sound of Steve's soft voice from the entrance to the women's locker room. Fucking hell if she wanted to involve him in her situation, _especially since she was still naked!_ "Yeah, Cap." She did her best to sound normal.

"You okay?"

Fuck, but that was a complicated question. Emotionally? Eh, kinda. Physically? Not at all. Either of those bad enough off to actively seek Cap's assistance while _still frickin' naked_? Oh hell no.

"Mostly?" She was not proud of how it came out as a question but damn, the pain was making it hard to think, and the longer it was out, the worse it would be to reset.

"I'm coming in." Clearly her answer hadn't been enough to assuage his concerns.

"Naked!" she responded immediately. "So very naked. _Naaaaaaaked_." She could not overstate. Of all the ways she'd imagined Steve seeing her without clothes, this one was absolutely not on the list.

"You're injured though."

She growled. "How the hell do you know that?"

"You whimpered and moaned all the way through your shower. Unless it was _that kind_ of shower…" The slightly teasing voice was closer now, obviously just beyond the bank of lockers outside the showers, not approaching but also not going away. He had the audacity to sound amused, the bastard.

"Really?" He picked _right now_ for the sass? "You've been spending too much time with Tony." A whimper was ripped from her throat as she accidentally bumped her shoulder shifting on the bench.

It was enough to make him break out the Captain America voice. "You have ten seconds before I come in there."

Goddamn super soldiers with their goddamn enhanced hearing. "It wasn't that kind of shower." Her harumph quickly unspooled into a cranky jaguar growl as she used her good arm to snag her towel off the hook and wrap herself in it as best she could considering she couldn't lift one arm. "I'm covered."

His face was down as he rounded the corner, hands shielding his eyes from anything untoward. All that and yet he was still blushing. It would have been adorable under other circumstances. "So… um… what seems to be the problem?" She could tell he'd showered, too, having changed into another tight shirt, this time with some low-hanging jogging pants and slip-ons, all he was missing was the black socks to complete his 'old man' ensemble

As much as it annoyed her, she knew Steve was likely the only choice she had that wouldn't involve an embarrassing, mostly naked trek across the compound to the med bay. "My shoulder," she muttered under her breath.

His bright blue eyes widened as his hand went from his eyes to his mouth. "No shit! Oh my… god." His mask of guilt was immediately overridden by something else as he took in her situation—mostly wrapped up in a burgundy towel but clearly still quite nude: appreciation. Catching himself, he closed his eyes and shook his head, clearing his throat before asking, "What can I do to help?"

He seemed to be looking at everything but her, to the point where she would have laughed if doing so wouldn't jostle her shoulder. "Okay, so what do you know about joint dislocations?"

What followed was a series of stuttered and profuse apologies, followed by a lot more questions than she would have anticipated from someone she just needed to pop her shoulder back in.

"Are you… will I hurt you? Haven't I done that enough?" The poor guy looked positively broken at the thought that he'd caused her lasting pain as he moved to sit on the bench next to her.

"Well, considering the choice is you do it now, I run it into a wall, or I march my naked ass over to medical…" she trailed off, staring at him meaningfully. It was wrong how much she enjoyed the way he went from blushing to pale bone white and back as she listed her options. "I mean, unless you want to help me dress?"

Steve closed his eyes and pressed his lips into a thin line, clearly working hard for a polite response to her highly inappropriate offer. He was such a fun and interesting mix of flirty and shy; she couldn't help teasing him a little bit despite the circumstances. When he opened his eyes again, they seemed abnormally dark with the pupils blown wide. "So I put my hands where again?"

His whispered question did things to her, and made it very easy to imagine that deep, growly murmur in other contexts. "You really need me to tell you where to put your hands, Cap?" she inquired playfully. It felt good to be able to interact with him without argument hanging over them. And the flirting? She could just chalk that up to delirium, right? Besides, making him blush was a team passtime, like poker or Trivial Pursuit.

Cap's eyes narrowed as he gazed at her, a cocky smirk sliding across his lips. "If I put my hands where I wanted to, that probably wouldn't get the problem solved, would it?"

_Oh my._ _That_ was an unexpected response, and room was suddenly way too warm. "Touché." Unfortunately she was too much pain to play this game to the conclusion she'd prefer. _Pity_. Best to just finish this bizarre little interlude up before it got any stranger. After guiding his hands into position, Xo closed her eyes. "On your mark, Captain."

Steve swallowed loudly and exhaled a shaking breath, his huge hands almost a brand on her skin. "On three."

He made it to two before she roared loud enough to make it ring off the tiles, then began swearing in every language her tongue could conjure. Jumping back a bit, he watched as she stood and quickly rewrapped herself in the towel with surprising speed before fully testing out her shoulder.

"Tell me I didn't break you."

Xo rotated her shoulder experimentally and knew something was wrong the moment her vision washed white. "Cap?"

"Yeah, Zoey?" His arms were firm and strong around her and his voice held a note of panic.

"I think I'm gonna be sick."


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: So the part before the break should have been included at the end of the previous chapter. Also, this really is rated M for a reason. This chapter would be why. Mind the rating. _

Xo didn't remember her bed being so warm. Or having a heartbeat and smelling so very expensive. When her eyes blinked open, she was met with the apprehensive smile of one Steve Rogers, up close and personal as he cradled her in his arms while seated on the bench. _Well, if that ain't awkward. _

"Tell me I didn't throw up on you."

His whole body wilted in relief as he shook his head with a weak laugh. "You scared the hell out of me, Zoey."

"Sorry." Xochitl blinked as her mind caught up with the situation. "What's with the nickname?"

"What nickname?" She closed her eyes as he ran his fingers lightly over her forehead and cheekbones, before pinching her chin and tilting her head from side to side in what she assumed was a close examination.

"'Zoey'? Everyone else calls me Xo." She opened her eyes to find him with a blush on his cheeks and a brows drawn down in a mild glare. "I'm not mad," she assured him, "I'm just curious."

Cap licked his lips, his gaze falling from her face to his hands as he attempted to shrink back from her a bit. "I don't know. It's just… it's how I think of you. You turned white right before you fainted and it just came out."

It was an interesting thought, that. Steve Rogers thinking of her often enough to give her a nickname. A soft and feminine nickname—when she was clearly neither—at that. "I didn't faint," she pouted. Last thing she needed was her team leader to think she was some delicate flower who couldn't take a hit or deal with physical pain. "I lost consciousness for a moment, but I didn't faint."

"Uh huh." Cap's pursed-lip expression was the epitome of unimpressed and unconvinced. "I put your shoulder back in socket and you checked out on me for a second." He paused and swallowed hard before pinning her down with a look of genuine concern. "You had me worried."

The level of guilt that sentence inflicted should have come with a surgeon general's warning. It was a body blow and she kind of curled into herself to keep from apologizing again or hurting him further. "Sorry," she repeated softly.

Steve shifted her in his arms as he stood, bringing to her attention that she was both being carried like a bride over the threshold and also still quite naked under her towel. The very next thing to catch her attention was the speed of the ceiling tiles passing overhead as she was borne aloft.

"Um, where are we going?"

"Medical to have a doctor look at your shoulder."

"Whoa, whoa. Stop." He paused in front of one of the east-facing windows that was rapidly collecting sunlight. "Okay, it's way too early to head over there. You really want to answer questions about why you're carrying me, naked might I remind you, into the med bay when I can clearly move under my own power? You want to wake a doc for this?"

His chest rumbled against her side as he growled, his glower saying much more than his lips. "So what do you suggest?"

Xo ignored the way his tone indicated he was merely humoring her. "Head over to my room, I'll get dressed and we can pretend this never happened."

"Are you serious?"

His narrow-eyed scowl had almost physical weight to it, but she was undeterred. "Yeah. And, just a thought, but you might want to hustle. I mean, unless you've worked out that whole explanation thing."

His jaw clenched, Steve was clearly gearing up for an argument until a door a short distance down the corridor opened. "Fuck."

She thought the ceiling tiles were flying past before, _Christ._ He spirited her down the hallway in the opposite direction of the noise, pausing long enough to hitch her gym bag on further up on his shoulder before slipping into the elevator.

"Good thing I don't get motion sick," Xo grumbled, delighting in his sheepish grin down at her as the doors opened to her floor. He had her down the hall and into her apartment in no time flat.

"Sorry." His cringe was so sweet she could have kissed him just on general principle as he gathered her to him in a quick squeeze.

She waved away his apology. "No worries, just take me to bed and we'll call it even."

Steve's feet tangled at her casual, unintentional innuendo, and the resulting stumble threw him off balance with her in his arms. Before she knew what was happening, she was spinning in the air and suddenly very, very aware of the air conditioning in her suite as well as the hardness of her floor.

The moment she hit the ground, it was like the world paused. It took a minute for the totality of the scene to register, but when it did, there were two things of equal importance competing for her attention. Number one with a bullet was her completely undignified naked sprawl on the cold, slate floor of her living room, followed closely by the arrested look of horror on Steve's face as he covered his mouth with his hand, her fluffy towel held aloft in the other, presumably from his attempt to catch her.

All at once it was like the world caught up with them and everything kicked into fast forward. "I—Are you—Ah _jeez_..." he squeezed his eyes shut and gulped a deep breath. "Zoey? Are you okay? I am _so_ sorry."

Between his verbal flailing and the purple mottled complexion, not to mention her unceremonious crash landing on the floor, the howl of laughter that came out of her was not something she could just call back. It started on a wheeze and slid right into hysterical as the tears streamed down her face. And the more she tried to talk, the harder she laughed.

"I'll… take that as a yes," he said as he backed away from her slowly, dropping her gear and towel where he stood. "I… I gotta go." He pointed over his shoulder vaguely in the direction of her front door for emphasis, feet stumbling over her duffle bag as he went. "Please, excuse me…"

Xochitl waved him on, still completely beside herself with mirth. He didn't need to be told twice, and she only laughed harder as he turned tail and fled for the relative safety of the hallway and elevator just beyond.

It took another couple moments to lever herself off the floor, picking up her belongings that he'd abandoned there in his haste to flee the scene. "America's bravest soldier, my naked ass."

* * *

Xo crashed for a few hours, getting up refreshed and in time to actually join the team for Chinese takeout and then the double feature in the viewing room. With peace declared between her and Cap, she felt like she could really relax for the first time in a long time.

"There oughta be a law."

She leaned against the counter waiting on her sinfully good microwave bagel bites to finish, watching everyone else get their snacks together for the movies. "You got a problem, Tones?

"Yeah, you and Natasha running around here in those tiny pyjamas. It's nerve-wracking. I can't believe I'm saying this, but am I running the Playboy mansion? I'm starting to feel like Hugh Hefner," Tony griped as he reached around her to grab the loaf of bread for a sandwich.

With a desultory glance at her grey tank top and whimsically patterned (pink with lemon slices was adorable and no one could convince her otherwise) sleep shorts, Xochitl shrugged. "If you mean old, outdated, and sexist? I mean, _si te queda la gorra, póntela_, you know?"

Shocked, Tony's mouth took a couple tries to get it to form a response. "Did you… did you just tell me 'if the shoe fits'?"

"'Then lace that bad boy up and go for it', I sure did." The '_What you gonna do about it?'_ remained unspoken but very much implied. Xo paused the food to test the center and changed the time.

"Rude," he sniffed as he cut his sandwich in half and wandered off to the pantry for some chips.

"Face it, thick thighs save lives."

"Amen," responded Clint, Bucky, and Sam as an unprompted Greek chorus, not even looking up from what they were doing.

Between the ding of her food being ready and the outright guffaws of Nat, Bruce, and Sam, who were leaning against varying appliances trying to remain standing, she didn't hear Tony's pearl-clutching reply to the sass, but did feel his firm hand smacking her ass as she strutted past him.

"I believe the phrase you're looking for is '_¡ay, mami!'_" She winked at him over shoulder, just because she could, making him join in the giggles. Tony Stark was a brat, but he'd grown on her.

Steve still avoided her for some reason, though. She'd passed him some scallion pancakes at dinner, and just the casual brush of her fingers had him recoiling like she'd burned him. In the viewing room, she staked out a corner of one of the sofas by the coffee table—snack proximity is paramount—and the moment he saw her, he handed off his bowl of popcorn to an all-too-happy Bucky and developed a sudden case of indigestion, bowing out of the movie night and leaving them to enjoy Bruce's favorite period pieces.

She tapped out after 'Gladiator', having to untangle herself from a sleepy, clingy Clint and because she had no interest in 'Braveheart'. Bruce was big on his heroic sagas and bless him for it. She only had to lie to Tony and Sam that she was going to bed to work on shifting herself back to daywalker status, and, with Bucky snoozing with his head in her lap, Natasha was polite enough not to call her on it.

It wasn't until she got to Steve's door that her nerves raised any objections. Suddenly Xo wondered if Tony's complaints about her attire had any merit, and why were her palms so sweaty? _Was this a bad idea? This was a bad idea. _Then as she turned to leave, she changed her mind again. Growling softly, she smoothed the hair back into her braid and squared her shoulders.

Hand poised to knock, she heard softly from behind the door, "You gonna stand out there all night?"

Ignoring the heat in her cheeks, she hesitantly opened the door. "That obvious, huh?"

Cap's room was sparsely decorated, a highly detailed line art of the Brooklyn Bridge, a quilt over a corner chair that looked like it had been knitted by affectionate grandmother, single reading lamp illuminated his nightstand was the only thing light in the room. Calling it Spartan would have been generous.

As she took in her surroundings, he reclined on his unadorned bed with only two pillows with a finger closed in his book watching her with undisguised curiosity. The tight white tank top and black sleep pants were pure temptation and the only thing her mind wanted to focus on. Not helpful.

"You're surprisingly noisy for a cat. I heard you coming down the hall," he replied with an easy smile.

"Downside of occupying this form." She chuckled quietly. "I always partially shift on missions for just that reason."

His eyes widened at that previously unknown tidbit. "Good to know." He watched her stand in his doorway a moment longer, his gaze warm, assessing, and positively fascinated. "You can come in, you know."

"I…" her voice faded on her as she stepped in and moved to close the door behind her, the feeling in the room unusually fraught, and smelling of something pleasant that she couldn't quite place underscoring the overwhelming scents of soft woods and sharper spices that belonged to him alone. "I wasn't sure you'd want that."

He cocked his head to the side, considering her, setting his book on the nightstand to give her his full attention. "Why would you think that?"

Maybe it was the proximity, maybe it was the circumstance, but the gentleness of his voice, curious with an undertone of hurt, sent a wave of longing through her that was damn difficult to camouflage.

"You've been avoiding me." Xo rolled her undamaged shoulder shyly as she gingerly approached the bed. She hoped her light tone would be enough to disguise the hurt she felt in admitting that. "Well, after this morning—"

"That was my fault," he interrupted her firmly, with a nod, only a hint of the earlier blush across his cheekbones. "I didn't mean to drop you. I'm so sorry. Hell." Steve drove the fingers of both hands through his hair as he sighed deeply, closing his eyes. "I dislocate and reset your shoulder, then I drop you on the floor, I didn't even to stick around to find out if you were okay." When he opened them, the blue was so dark, so intimate, her breath caught for a second. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"No harm, no foul." With a tentative smile on her lips, she held out her arms and twirled around slowly for him to see before perching on the side of his bed next to him. Taking his hand into both of hers, she shifted to face him, eyes downcast as she fought her body's instant reaction to the physical contact. "I actually came to apologize to you."

"What for?"

"This morning." It seemed the closer they were to one another, the softer they spoke to each other, their proximity bringing a gentleness they normally didn't allow one another. She licked her lips as she marshalled her thoughts away from the warm weight of his hand in hers and the even warmer scent of him, sweet limes and verbena with an undercurrent of sandalwood and cinnamon that were completely him, that was now too intense for her body to simply ignore. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. I mean—"

He sat up straight with a look of shock. "What? No. Not at all."

"I mean, you dropped me—"

"Already copped to that."

"—and I laughed at you—"

"It _was _pretty funny in hindsight, not gonna lie."

"And that wasn't kind of me. You fixed my shoulder and I was a dick to you at the first available opportunity. I'm sorry I laughed. I wasn't trying to make fun of—"

Xochitl's words were cut off by his finger under her chin as his soft lips claimed hers. It was sweetly chaste, a hesitant brush of his lips against hers, a lingering press of delicate heat and plush softness. The innocence of it was completely at odds with the slow spike of heat pooling low in her belly.

It went on for a while, her hands finding their way to his shoulders and into his hair, his hands on her hips to drag her into his lap. This was intimate, personal, and she knew there'd be no reining in her crush now.

He pressed his forehead to hers when they broke apart, each breathing hard. "No more apologies."

"Okay," she breathed, melting a little at his low, rough voice, and pressed her lips to his once more. This kiss was carnal, his hands framing her face as he nibbled at her top and bottom lip before tangling his tongue with hers, swallowing her whimper of surrender.

It was nothing at all for him to slide a hand to her ass and manhandle her into straddling his hips, leaning back against the headboard until she was stretched out leaning against his muscular chest their bodies shifting and rubbing in the search of delicious friction. He was already hard and hearing him gasp as she rolled her hips against him was a damn revelation.

"Fuck," she groaned, her hands feathering over his jaw and down his neck to brace against his stupidly broad shoulders. "We doing this?" she asked between soft, molten kisses. He tasted like mint and fire, and she needed it more than she needed air.

Steve wrapped her braid around his fist, using it to gently pull her head back to expose her neck as he kissed and nibbled his way from her lips to her jaw and down. "Oh yes, we are _absolutely_ doing this."

Not that she wanted to talk herself out of his bed, but she had concerns about this sudden acceleration in their relationship. "But what about—" she was silenced by his finger over her lips.

"No buts." Blue eyes gone almost black pinned her down, leaving no question as to his thoughts. "I've waited too damn long and wanted this too damn bad to let you go now."

"Oh."

Xo hissed as the heat of his mouth focused on the spot just beneath her ear, arching into him as heat flooded through her and gathered between her thighs. Steve's free hand came up, yanking down her shirt until her tits popped free of their tank top cage, making him groan in appreciation.

"Goddamn, but these are so distracting," he muttered as he rubbed his face against her plump flesh, licking and kissing his way down to her nipple. "Seeing you in that uniform the first time, damn, my dick got so hard I almost couldn't walk right for a week."

His words, in hushed tones reserved for private prayer, sent her reeling as the fire in her blood took hold. Thighs tightly gripping his hips, she wiggled and ground herself against him, seeking relief for her growing need.

"I can't even tell you how many times I've imagined this," he growled against her skin as he nuzzled and licked her sensitive little nipples, delighting in each whimper and gasp. Her keening moan as he took her into his mouth was met with an answering rumble in his chest. "They're perfect."

"Oh yeah?" His words and attentions made her clit throb as she squirmed in his lap, grinding against the hard ridge of flesh there that was so close, yet still not enough with layers of clothing between them. "I like the idea of you stroking your cock thinking about me."

"Fucking hell," Steve all but growled as his hand slid from her breast around to cup her ass, rolling his hips against hers as they both worked out a rhythm. "You feel so fucking good, Zoey." He buried his face in the spot between her neck and shoulder, suckling and laving a welt on her collarbone that would be obvious to anyone and everyone as he rutted against her. "Please… can I please…?"

The image of Cap in front of her was light years away from the one she saw daily. Gone was the staid and pressed field commander, and in his place hair mussed from her fingertips, red lips swollen from kisses, ocean blue eyes dark and glassy, perfect face wanton and needy. She didn't know it was possible to die of sexiness, but there they were. "Tell me."

He bit his lip, a wicked sparkle coming to his eyes. "I have a better idea. How 'bout I show you?"

Holding her to him with his hand palming her ass, he sat up suddenly and tipped her backwards on the bed. Smiling down at her from between her thighs, he lightly traced his fingers over the soft skin inside her knees. "You're gorgeous, you know that?"

"You're not so bad yourself, babe." She smiled up at him through heavy-lidded dark eyes, one hand idly teasing and tweaking her nipples while the other meandered down her stomach to tease the waistband of her soaked sleep shorts. "So what's the plan?"

"I think…" Steve grabbed her by the hips and flipped her over onto her hands and knees. Smoothing a hand up her spine, he pressed her shoulder blades down until her ass was in the air as she lay flat on her folded arms in a classic presentation pose. "Perfect."

"See something you like?" Xo smirked over her shoulder as she shook her ass playfully.

"Not yet." His gravelly voice was a silky lick of flame against her skin and she all but whined when he took his time lazily drawing his fingertips up the backs and insides of her thighs. So close to where she needed him but still left wanting.

All at once he hooked his fingers in the waistband of her sleep shorts and sodden cotton panties and yanked them down to her knees. The rush of cool air against her newly bared skin made her gasp, and his groan of appreciation sounded like it was wrenched from deep in his chest.

"This ass," he whispered, his touch as he cupped one cheek as reverent as his tone. "It's perfect. A work of art."

In no time at all, his touch became confident and possessive, caressing and massaging until her every breath was a sustained purr. The burning heat of his hands on her skin was all she could think about, the rest of her mind lost in a haze of lustful wants and needs.

"This is mine, in case you wondered." A light pinch made her breath catch as her dark eyes met his over her shoulder. His undershirt had disappeared, leaving all that muscle-y goodness on display above the generously sagging sleep pants.

She licked her lips as the urge to challenge him warred with her desire to tasted every single inch of him. Starting with that damn V-line, holy gods. "Oh you think so?"

He slapped her ass then, firm but gentle smack that ended with his fingers kneading her flesh, indulgent but unmistakably possessive. "I saw Tony take some liberties earlier. Clint, too. That'll be the last time that happens." The rumbled threat in his voice made her inner cat preen at the attention.

Xo squealed in surprise as he playfully nipped the other cheek, the contrast of sharp teeth and soft lips making her wriggle and squirm. "Careful with the merchandise, yeah?"

"Oh, Zoey." She could actually feel his dark chuckle against her skin as he massaged the muscles of her ass before moving to her inner thighs. "Don't worry. I'm gonna be very, very careful."

Steve left a trail of sloppy, open-mouthed kisses up her spine, pushing her tank top up and off as he went. He pulled it from her hands and threw it aside as he mouthed and bit her neck, cupping her naked breasts to hold her against him as he ground his impressively stiff cock against the small of her back.

"God _damn, _what you do to me, doll," he rasped. He spun her around and stretched her out on her back, leaving her legs splayed open in front of him, the look he gave her not unlike a dying man staring at his last meal.

Hands on her tits, she thumbed her nipples as he pressed a kiss to her stomach just below her bellybutton. Her hips rose on a whimper at his proximity to her slit, so close to where she was dying for his attentions and still untouched.

"Shh," he soothed as his lips danced down her trembling belly followed by his steady hand, deceptively heavy, holding her still. His shoulders nudged her thighs further apart as he settled in between them. "Let me take care of you, sweetheart."

He nuzzled her mound before backing off to press soft kisses to her inner thighs with maddening slowness. "You smell so good, doll." He held her gaze as he drew a finger down her slit, a slow smile unfurling on his lips as her back arched like she'd been electrified. "And so wet for me."

One hand on her belly to keep her under control, he used the other to spread her lips, bringing all of the focus of his lips and tongue to her poor, neglected clit. He hummed in approval as she threw her head back and moaned outright at the shock of sensations running through her. The teasing had been torturous, but it was nothing compared to the slow and deliberate focus of this man on her tiny little bundle of nerves.

Calling upon deities she didn't believe in, in between bouts of truly creative profanities, his name on her tongue an exaltation and an epithet, Xo twisted and thrashed as he thrust his tongue into her, doing his best to taste all that her pussy had to offer before returning to draw intricate patterns on her clit.

"Oh fuck! Oh _yes_! Please! Oh my God, I love the way you eat this pussy!"

When his spot on the bed didn't offer enough leverage, he moved to kneel next to it, grabbing her hips and dragging her with him, situating her legs on his shoulders as he laced his fingers over her belly, his mouth now sealed against her clit in blessed, cursed suction.

"Please… I can't… I need… so good… _please…_" She couldn't catch her breath, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but feel the tension coiling inside of her as he relentlessly pulled every moan, whimper and sigh he could from her with his skillful mouth. His tongue was a menace, certified, and she could not get enough.

Her release was sudden, a lightning strike in a violent storm that ripped through her and left her scorched, fried, _drenched_, every exhalation a whimper of utter surrender and abandon.

Steve untangled himself from her legs, stretching out next to her, smirking, smug, victorious. His lips and cheeks were shiny with her juices and he made quite the show of licking her essence from his fingers and hands.

"God, you taste so good," he praised as he rolled to his side and trailed his fingers lightly up and down her belly and thighs, the tingly feeling more of comfort than arousal. "And you're so pretty when you beg." She held up her middle finger, all she had to say about his boasting as her breathing recovered, which he promptly kissed as he chuckled.

"Didn't get to that yet, but the night's still young." Now he was laughing outright, the bed shifting as he fell over onto his back with his giggles.

Xo snorted but couldn't maintain her irritated façade, dissolving into soft, sated giggles. She turned over to lightly bite one of his pecs as her hand splayed low on his belly by his hip. "You're terrible."

Steve's laughter died as his eyes darkened focused on her, his hand smoothing down her back to cup her ass and hold her closer to him. "You like it," he challenged.

She rolled her eyes to the ceiling like she had to think about it before moving up and nipping at his lush bottom lip. "Maybe," she allowed with a giggle, and a lingering kiss that sent heat flowing down through her. "Just a little," she confirmed as her fingertips wandered over the ridged landscape of his chest and abs. It was as glorious as she'd imagined, and she couldn't help giving in to the urge to leave a trail of bitemarks and tiny livid bruises on her southbound journey.

"No fangs," he admonished. His hand was behind his head, watching her progress with a half smile and Xochitl had never seen anything sexier in her life.

"Take away all my fun." She licked her lips, staring down at the stiff line of his cock in his sleep pants. "Okay, I lied," her dark eyes locked with his as she peeled away the last article of clothing between them, "maybe not _all_ my fun."

Captain America clothed was eye candy, Captain America naked was a delicacy to be savored. Wasting no time, she took his hard cock in hand, thick enough her fingers didn't quite meet around it, and gave it a couple languid stokes. The rolling growl from deep in his chest spoke directly to the cat in her, drawing golden eyes to his blue ones.

"Living dangerously, there," she murmured, showing him a bit of teeth as she chuckled. The sweet and heavy scent of lust wound it's way around the spicy acrid scent of aggression, making it difficult to keep her cat contained.

"Jesus fuck," he groaned as she took him as deep into her mouth with no preamble. Her tongue worked the spot beneath his head and twirling around the tip as she slid her lips up and down the shaft with a deliberate slowness designed to drive him insane.

"Your lips-Fuck! Your mouth... oh! _Oh god!_ ...is incredible…" Steve's head fell back on a ragged moan as his back arched, rocking his dick a little deeper into her. Her only answer was to hum in pleasure, the vibration making him sweat and swear even more.

Giving head was as much about pleasure as it was about power, and right then, the power of having him, this paragon of human perfection, beneath her and at her mercy was easily as arousing as making out with him bad been. Xo reveled in his every grunt and twitch in response to her touch, his hands fisted in the sheets and his inner thighs trembling as she delicately ran her claws over them, she wanted nothing more than to break him down to the frame.

Giving her jaw a break, she moved down to lick and suck his balls, stroking his sloppy wet cock with a sure hand and spurred on by choked out moans.

"You wanna fuck my mouth, _mi sol_?" her voice was a little rough from the wear but the keening whimper that answered her was more than worth it. The nickname slipped out from the darker confines of her mind, the parts she kept hidden until she was alone in the dark with her toys.

Situating herself on her knees between his legs, she evaluated her plan of attack. He was big, much larger than her usual entertainment, and thick, but she figured she could make the effort and still do a decent job, even if she wasn't exactly 100%. "My only rule is you gotta watch me," she informed him as she trailed her nails feather-light over the sensitive skin of his inner thighs, then up along his v-line making his stomach tremble before raking though the sparse curls just above the base of his shaft.

Her eyes met his as he pushed up to his elbows, the cobalt now all but gone, blown out to a lustful black, and she felt her thighs clench at the thoroughly sinful image he presented.

"You think you can do that?"

Steve nodded solemnly, swallowing hard as she leaned over him.

"You might wanna hold on to something."

At first it was all tongue, up the underside of the shaft along the sensitive vein, just underneath the head, wrapping the tip in her brand of warm softness, but that was only the warm up for the main event. Her lips slid down easy, like they did last time, but this time she was ready, taking him to the back of her throat on the first shot. She hummed again and he thrust up into her, making her pull back with a slight cough.

"Shit! I'm sorry, Zoey!" He looked panicked, so she started petting his stomach and thighs to soothe him.

"Shh... I got this." Xo started again, this time swallowing past her gag reflex, letting him feel her throat squeeze around him rhythmically before pulling back and doing it again.

To his credit, Steve never looked away, even if his eyes glazed over and his jaw dropped open on huge gasping breaths. He took one hand and placed it on her head, thrusting up tentatively. When he felt her nod, he did it again, and again, until she was working off his pace and not the other way around until his thighs were shaking and his hand had found its way to her braid.

"_Fuck! I'm gonna— Oh my God, Zoey— If you don't—" _

All at once she found herself moved quickly to sprawl across him, his chest heaving beneath her. Her mouth was empty, lips wet and swollen, parted in utter shock and confusion as to this turn of events. "What the—?"

Steve held up a finger, mouth working to speak, and needing a couple practice runs. "Need a minute. Too close," he told her between panting breaths. His cock twitched against her stomach as a kind of underline.

Xochitl's beaming smile was all teeth, and maybe a little fang just because. How could she not be smug with him completely taken apart under her?

Purring, she nuzzled her face against his chest, indulging in the heady scent of his arousal layered with her own. She braced her hands on his chest, kneading her claws a little on his firm pecs as she moved to sit up.

He caught her behind the neck, coming up to his elbow to seal his mouth to hers. Her lips parted easily from the pressure, the needy intensity of it shooting straight through her. Her hands found purchase on his shoulders as he deepened the kiss with an arm around her waist with his other hand gently pulling and teasing her nipple.

Steve hissed through gritted teeth as she rolled her hips against him, slippery wet flesh sliding over and against his sensitive cock, his hands immediately gripping them to keep her still. "You are dangerous."

"In the best way," she said with a self-satisfied grin. Feeling the hard length of him nestled against her delicate folds made it difficult for her to keep still, and the more she squirmed, the better Steve's noises.

"Let me," she asked breathlessly, with a swivel of her hips that made him whine. "Please?"

Steve bit his lip as his blue eyes opened, taking her in with a predatory intent that made her pussy clench. The hands on her hips shifted her, guided her to her knees above him, over him. "You ready?"

Not in the slightest, but she nodded anyway, feeling the delicious stretch of his body entering hers.

"Goddamn," he groaned, stretching the single word over several syllables as his back arched and his nails dug into her flesh deep enough to bruise.

He was a lot bigger than men and varying appliances in her past, and everything she could have wanted. A high-pitched moan caught her ear, and the smirk on his face told her it was hers.

"You alright?"

Xo exhaled a shaky breath as she settled into place, feeling him absolutely everywhere within her. "I'm not sure I'm tall enough to ride this ride," she answered honestly with a breathless huff that may have been a giggle.

He closed his eyes as he grinned and shook his head before biting his lip and lifting her once more. There was something to be said for the manhandling, Xo mused, because while she normally wouldn't allow it, he made it pretty damn hot.

The push and pull of flesh and sweat, the gentle slap of skin getting harder, faster, her hands scrabbling for purchase on his sweat-slick chest, arms, goddamn, he was everywhere at once and she was quickly overwhelmed, losing herself to another release as her body tightened around his.

"So tight! _Fuck yes!_" he ground out as their pace slowed to accommodate her sensitivities and the tiny shards of pleasure that were her aftershocks. "Zoey… Xochitl, _doll…_"

Rather than descending into a boneless heap again, this orgasm left her riled up, edgy. "Is that the best you got, Captain?" Bold words from a woman currently impaled on an American monument, but the way he bucked underneath her said it was the right move.

Sitting astride his hips was amazing, all that perfectly muscled real estate for her fingers to explore. Chest carved as if from marble, nipples almost as sensitive as her own… when she leaned down to lick one, the groan that accompanied her action was enough to make her thighs shiver. He was fucking perfect and for the moment, all hers.

"Hold that thought." It was not a request and he was using his 'Captain America' voice as he unseated her, leaving her pouting at the sudden emptiness. "Turn around and face the headboard."

After shoving his pillows out of the way, Xo moved into position, kneeling on the bed with her hands braced on the wall above the cushioned, tufted headboard. Legs spread just enough, ass out and on display, one look over her shoulders and her dark eyes met his blue ones, burning bright as he bit his lip.

"Everything about this ass is perfection," he mused as he drew his fingers lightly from her shoulder blades to her hips, gently shifting her into position with him between her knees.

Steve moved in close behind her, his cock rubbing against her slit, teasing. "My fantasies pale in comparison," he murmured against her shoulder as he pressed into her, sliding deep all at once.

Xo arched her back on a moan that was torn from deep within her, her hand reaching up to wind through his hair as he sank his teeth into her neck. Their scent heavy in the air, overlapping competing lusts and affections layered over a background symphony of slapping skin and urgent whispers, it was a lot for her to process at once.

One hand on her hip, he set a punishing pace right away, long strokes the left just the tip inside her before slamming back into her alternating with short strokes designed to drive both of them crazy.

"Your pussy looks so good wrapped around my cock, baby. So hot and wet for me," he groaned as he wrapped her braid around his hand again, yanking her head back and baring her neck to him.

_So full… so fucking thick…_ Steve's chest was hot against her back as she moved against him, trapped between the relentless thrusts and his other hand slipping down her stomach to pinch and rub her clit. He was a quick study, her Cap, apparently learning from every gasp and groan how to leave her shattered and at his mercy.

Stars burst behind her eyelids as he sank his teeth into the side of her neck, her release rushing over her again. Pussy clenching around his cock in a pleasure so sharp and intense she all but collapsed against the wall with her hands now braced on the headboard.

"Xo—_Zoey—_fuck I'm so close," he growled against the delicate skin of her neck, the burn of the abused flesh making her shiver. His pace was unyielding as his hands bracketed hers of the headboard.

"Fuck yes, baby, ride this tight little cunt and come for me," she chanted pressing her ass back against him. "Now! Do it now!"

For the first time, Steve's rhythm stuttered, strokes short but driving deep and hitting that spot inside her that had her throbbing around his length and she dropped her chin to her chest, wrung out from the intensity of the orgasm that left her in tatters with her claws and embedded in the fabric. Steve's filthiest curses in her ear were so hot right before they both dropped flat to the bed as the headboard was wrenched free of it's moorings on the wall.

In an act of supreme kindness, he pushed himself off of her, flopping over to his back, leaving her flat on her face. "Fucking hell, Zoey," he groaned, a hand blindly skating down her back.

She held up a finger to acknowledge him but didn't speak. Pulse still pounding in her ears and lungs on fire, it was gonna be a moment until she could remember how to use words properly.

"You alive?" he asked, running a tickling finger down her side that made her groan and turn over to face him.

"Still deciding," she spoke into the mattress.

Steve snickered, leaning over to brush a kiss over her temple. "C'mon." It took a bit, but he tossed the headboard over the side and shuffled them up the bed so that he reclined on his pillows and she had her head on his chest with his arm wrapped around to keep her close. "Better?"

She tossed a leg over his thigh and molded her body to his side before sighing blissfully. "Much."

He huffed a quick laugh and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "So… was it everything you hoped it'd be?"

The way she rolled her eyes should have been audible. "I'm not feeding your ego."

Her head moved as he shrugged. "No need, I'm pretty sure I'll be deaf for a week from all the screaming, and poor Buck is probably sleeping over at Nat's due to noise." His 'smug bastard' voice was impressive.

"Oh my God! It was not that bad!" Her eyes wide, she pushed herself into an upright position, with a hand on his chest. In all honesty, she'd given no thought at all to his best friend and next-door-neighbor who happened to share this particular recently-damaged bedroom wall.

"What? Sorry, can't hear you." He pointed to his ears, rolling away when she playfully slugged him in the arm; it wouldn't hurt either of them but it made her feel better.

It was hard to take her anger seriously while she was snickering, which was just as well. "I'm not the one Tony's going to kill for tearing up his walls."

He snorted, his arms wrapping around her as he whispered, "For sex that good, I'm sure he'll understand."

"Very smooth, Cap." Xochitl stretched until she could bury her face in his neck, purring, "I'm never gonna be able to sit through another briefing with you without thinking about how much I like your tongue."

"Are you kidding? I had a hard enough time controlling myself when you molest your pens with your lips. Now that I know what you can do with that mouth…." he trailed off as he thought about it, ending on a dreamy sigh.

Surprisingly, Xo felt his cock stirring against her thigh. "Really." She glanced up at him through narrowed eyes, her suspicions plain.

His smile was beatific. "What? I have a vivid imagination." Steve buried his face in her hair and cuddled her closer even as she slapped playfully at the arm he had wrapped around her.

"You're incorrigible." Xo lay there luxuriating in the comfortable warmth of his embrace, her purr on full display as his thumb tapped a gentle rhythm against her ribs. But for all her peaceful and affectionate feelings, she knew this interlude had a limited shelf life.

With a wistful sigh, she swung her legs over to sit on the side of the bed. "I should go."

Steve pushed up to lay on one arm, sheet draped temptingly low across his delectable abs and strong legs, doing nothing at all to hide his renewed interest. His hair was clearly a casualty of their encounter, artlessly fingercombed and messy as he passed his thumb over his swollen bottom lip.

"So soon?" he asked with a smirk that made her thighs quake from the memory.

"Yeah." Xo smiled softly, fondly, doing her best to ignore the temptation to fall back into the bed against him and shred the sheets with him.

He worried his lip between his teeth before looking up at her through his lashes. "Something I said?"

The shadows of the late evening didn't hide the hints of hurt and vulnerability in his eyes. The way he wore his heart on his sleeve was one of the things she loved liked about him.

Xo cupped his cheek and brushed a lingering kiss over his mouth. "Not at all."

"So what then?"

"This is just so…" she frowned as she cast about for the right word, shifting to face him on the bed as she sat up again.

"New? Unexpected? Delightful? Athletic as hell? Unreasonably sexy?" Steve supplied helpfully, ticking them off on his fingers as he lay on the pile of pillows.

"14/10 would recommend." She giggled and felt the heat rise in her cheeks at his compliments as she determinedly stared at her hands. "I just don't want to ruin things by jumping in with both feet."

She licked her lips and straightened to look him in the eye. "I don't wanna rush this."

The slow grin that accompanied the simmering heat in his luminous blue eyes sent another wave of longing through her. "Alright then, doll."

It was all she could do to collect her things, opting to leave wearing his shirt and discarded sleep pants. She looked back at him with her hand on the knob, enjoying the picture of thoroughly debauched leisure with one hand behind his head and the other resting low on his chiseled stomach just above his sheet-covered cock.

"You keep looking at me like that, I won't be able to let you leave," he rumbled, eyes glittering.

She snorted a giggle and nodded. "Okay. See you tomorrow, then?"

"At the gym?" he asked in cautious tone.

She rolled a shoulder. "I was thinking more dinner and a movie."

His startled blink made her smile, but he recovered quickly. "I— I'm good with that."

His barely noticeable stutter made her heart trip over in her chest a little. "Alright then."

"See you tomorrow, Zoey."

Her cheeks hurt from the weight of her grin, as she inched open the door to surveil the hallway before she made her escape. "See you tomorrow, Steve. Sleep well." She definitely would.


End file.
